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June 5, 2018

The power of a handwritten note

When was the last time that you received a hand addressed piece of mail? Do you remember? Most of us won’t. It has become far too easy to shoot off an email saying “thanks for your business.” Easy? Yes. Is it the best way? Probably not.

Make your message stand out

A handwritten note can be powerful. It won’t take you more than a couple minutes to write, but your message will stand out among hundreds of messages delivered in any given day. It may also make you top of mind when someone is looking to pass along a referral.

Are there other times where you might use handwritten notes to make an impact? Some doctors hand write thank you notes to anyone who makes a referral to their business and include a gift card. Others write notes to the people they connect with at networking events. And don’t forget about recognizing your employees or coworkers with handwritten notes when they go above and beyond what is asked of them.

What a handwritten note means

A handwritten note shows that you truly care about your customer, employee, or business associate and are willing to take the time to acknowledge them. The shelf life of that thank you might be longer than you would expect. It isn’t unusual for people to pin up hand written notes as a source of pride and motivation.

Consider hand writing a thank you with an order

If you are shipping products to a customer, a one or two word sentence note with the order can make a big impact. They won’t be expecting your note and it will make them feel appreciated. It may also impact who they choose to do business with the next time around.

But I don’t have time

Make a commitment to start hand writing notes. You may find 5-10 minutes a day to jot down a note or two while you are waiting for a meeting or conference call. If you have a few minutes in the morning waiting for a barista to make your coffee, you likely have enough time to write a quick note. If you find that you really can’t keep up, you can have another employee or intern help you write them. There are even virtual assistants that you can hire to hand write the messages for you.

If you aren’t committed to it, it can become too easy to put off writing notes off until later so make the process simple. Click here for a few hints to making it as easy as 1-2-3.